The Farmer King\n\nWhile Americans remember George III as a tyrant, at home he was known affectionately as 'Farmer George.' Unlike his decadent predecessors, he genuinely loved agriculture, preferred eating plain mutton to lavish feasts, and was surprisingly frugal. However, this wholesome image was soon overshadowed by one of the most bizarre medical crises in royal history.\n\nConversations with Trees\n\nThe King's descent into 'madness' was marked by spectacular and erratic behavior. He once reportedly shook hands with the branch of an oak tree, convinced he was greeting the King of Prussia. During his severe episodes, he would talk incessantly for hours until he foamed at the mouth, sometimes rambling in sentences containing over 400 words without a single pause for breath.\n\nBlue Urine and Bizarre Medicine\n\nThe royal doctors, baffled by his condition, subjected him to horrific and strange treatments, including blistering powders, straitjackets, and arsenic-laced concoctions. One of his most famous and puzzling symptoms was his blue—or sometimes purple—urine. For decades, historians blamed a rare genetic blood disorder called porphyria, though modern researchers now suspect a severe form of bipolar disorder, possibly worsened by the toxic medicines his doctors forced upon him.\n\nA Tragic End\n\nGeorge III spent his final decade entirely blind, mostly deaf, and locked away in Windsor Castle. He lived in a world of his own delusions, completely unaware that his son was ruling as Prince Regent or that his beloved wife had passed away. He remains a tragically strange figure—a well-meaning, eccentric king whose mind became a prison of bizarre hallucinations.